As of January 1, 2012, Rich retired from active practice.
Rich was a leading member of Ottawa’s legal community for over 40 years. After starting his legal career in 1965 with the firm of Osler Hoskin in Toronto, Rich returned home to Ottawa in 1968 to build a law firm of his own. The law firm of Wilson Monaghan, under the leadership of Rich and co-founder Martin Monaghan, had grown into one of Ottawa’s ten largest by 1990, with offices in Ottawa, Orleans and Manotick.
In the early 1990’s, Rich decided to focus his practice in his hometown of Manotick, and since then practiced law exclusively out of the building we now occupy on Main Street.
Throughout his career, Rich was highly respected within both his profession and his community. Among other accolades, Rich received the title of Queen’s Counsel from the Province of Ontario in 1983. In 1995, and again in 1999, Rich was elected by the lawyers of Ontario to serve as a Bencher (or member of the board of directors) of the Law Society of Upper Canada, completing his second term in 2003.
Rich has made the village of Manotick his home since 1968. Always committed to supporting the ongoing development of the Manotick community, Rich is a member and past President of the Manotick Kiwanis Club and continues to be an active participant in a wide range of community activities and programmes.